Set cellpadding and cellspacing in CSS?

Box Model: The Soul of table styling

CSS table styling revolves around the understanding of the box model. Let's dive deep into the magic of translating cellpadding and border-spacing into our box model world.

cellpadding in CSS costume: Padding

Padding appears as the CSS equivalent of cellpadding. It defines space between cell content and its border. In simple words, it's like a cushion for your cell content:

table td, table th { padding: 10px; } /* Poofy cushion for cells */
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cellspacing under CSS alias: Border-spacing

Border-spacing effectively emulates cellspacing on CSS realm. Define it with singular or dual values for uniform or differential horizontal-vertical spacing:

table { border-spacing: 8px 2px; /* Personal space, anyone? */ }
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Collapsing borders: Conquering dated browsers

Internet Explorer through version 7 (IE7) isn't a fan of border-spacing. However, border-collapse is a perfect move for this old mate:

table { border-collapse: collapse; /* IE's version of an extreme diet 0_0 */ }
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On being collapsed, adjacent cells enjoy single, combined borders.

Handling antique Internet Explorer

To accommodate elderly versions of Internet Explorer, this handy workaround comes in, where modern browsers pretend it doesn't exist:

*+html table { 
    /* Catching the IE ghosts */
    *border-collapse: expression('separate', cellSpacing='10px'); 
}
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Taming the CSS table: A practicum

When browsers play 'old school'

Achieving uniform cell-spacing across browsers sometimes mandates the HTML cellspacing attribute. But for edgy, maintainable code, CSS always triumphs.

<!-- Old but gold -->
<table cellspacing="10"></table> 
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Tricky merges: Colspan and rowspan

For tables with colspan or rowspan, understanding how padding and border-spacing interact with the merged cells is essential.

Adaptability: Responsive and scalable designs

For scalable and responsive layouts, leverage relative units such as rem or em:

/* Responsive cells for all! */
td, th { padding: 1rem; }
table { border-spacing: 0.5rem; }
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Debugging paradise: Online editors

Interactive online editors like jsfiddle or CodePen simplify debugging CSS table properties, providing instant visual feedback.